Peach Nectarine Cobbler

It's been quite awhile, hello all! I have been through a lot of major transitions lately with moving to a new city and whatnot so my apologies for being absent.  I have a few old recipes to post in the near future. 

This is a peach cobbler with a butter cookie dough frosting.  It is super duper easy, doesn't take long at all, is very sweet, and is great paired with some vanilla ice cream.

I made this in the summer when the weather was still incredibly nice and the fruit was amazing.  I used both orange nectarines and white peaches I believe.  I'm not going to lie, I made this ages ago so I don't remember the exact measurement of the fruit part (I do have exact numbers for the topping which is the most important).

I'll leave it up to you but I would recommend using 2-3 nectarines and 2-3 peaches and cutting them up.  You probably want to coat them with about 3/4 cup of sugar and some lemon juice.  You can play with the amounts (if you like it sweet add more, less sweet don't put as much).  I apologize for not making it straight forward but its pretty easy and variable.  

Below I will put the recipe for the topping!

I love each season for different reasons but the fall in Oregon is beautiful.  We have been blessed with great weather (which is just now seeming to leave us) and the leaves are falling from the trees in an array of great color.  In California I never really noticed the beauty of the Fall and the foliage here is in a much greater density so I am able to appreciate it. 

Also, the fall means fall foods like pumpkin! Anything pumpkin flavored is going to be something I like, so this time of year is amazing yet dangerous for me. 

Ingredients: 

This recipe makes 8-inch square pan of cobbler. 

Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 stick unsalted, softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk 

1/4 tsp. vanilla 

Fruit:

4-6 nectarines/peaches

1/2-1 cup sugar

2-3 tbsp. lemon juice 

Directions: 

1.  Prepare your fruit filling and place into a pre-greased 8-inch square pan. 

2.  Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

3.  Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Then, beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.  

4.  Mix in dry flour mixture.

5.  Dollop dough over the fruit (try your best to spread over evenly).

6.  Bake at 375 for about 40-50 minutes or when the crust is a golden brown color.

Enjoy this immensely! And make sure you use good, ripe fruit. 

Happy baking!

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake

Salted caramel is the new thing.  I had never even tried it until a few months ago and it was amazing! My boyfriends birthday was on the 17th of October so I went to visit the weekend before and made him a cake of his choice.  He very cleverly came up with this on his own... and man it was good.

Sorry for the bad photo quality... I had to use my iPhone again because I was out of town.

This is a dark chocolate cake with salted caramel icing and a chocolate ganache filling/decoration.  I recommend you make the ganache first if you decide to use it because it takes a little while to firm up.

I did have some issues with the consistency of this frosting.  It took a lot of fooling around with and for some reason it just did not want to thicken up.  I'd recommend just being prepared to add a little bit of this and that to reach the consistency you want.  The chocolate cake recipe I used for this is literally the best one I have ever had and I'm not even a huge chocolate person.  I also cheated and got store bought caramel because I didn't have time to make it but if you want to make it yourself check out my Snickerdoodle Cupcake with Caramel Filling recipe. 

Here we are with the finished product (4 or so hours later).  He was a good sport and did his homework patiently waiting for me to perfect it.  

I also made this cake at his Kappa Sigma fraternity house so it was legitimately gone in less than 24 hours.  I know where to go if I ever need happy customers.

I was inspired by the blogs Use Real Butter and Cucina Nicolina for this recipe. 

Ingredients:

This recipe makes one 2-layer cake. 

For the dark chocolate cake: 

4 oz. dark chocolate chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. cocoa powder

1 stick of softened unsalted butter

2.5 cups brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1/2 cup of buttermilk

1.25 cups boiling water

For the salted caramel cream cheese frosting (be prepared to have extra): 

16 oz. cream cheese (I'd recommend full fat because it will be thicker)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

8 oz. salted caramel (this is about 1 cup of caramel and about 1-2 tsp. salt depending on how much you want)

4-5 cups powdered sugar

For the chocolate ganache:

4 oz. dark chocolate 

5 oz. heavy whipping cream

Directions:

For the dark chocolate cake:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the chocolate and set aside. 

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. 

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, combine brown sugar and butter.  Add the vanilla.  Then add the eggs one at a time.

Stir in the melted chocolate. 

Add half of the dry ingredients and combine.  Then add the buttermilk followed by the other half of the dry ingredients. 

Add the boiling water and mix well.  Do not worry about it's very thin consistency- that means you are doing it right!

Pour into two 9-inch cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes in the oven. When they are done, remove from the oven, and allow to cool completely. 

For the salted caramel cream cheese frosting:

Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until combined.

Mix in the salted caramel. 

Add the powdered sugar slowly until you reach a consistency you like.

Optional: add about 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream and beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes. 

Place in the refrigerator to let it firm up. 

For the chocolate ganache:

Place the heavy whipping cream on the stove until it reaches a simmer.  

Pour over the chocolate chips and let it sit for 30 seconds. 

Whisk to combine and let it sit until it thickens up.

Assembly: 

Pour a layer of thickened ganache and a thick layer of cream cheese frosting on the top of one of the cake rounds, which should be placed on a platter.  This will act at the filling between the two layers of cake.

Place the second cake round on top of the first.  Frost the top and sides of the cake with the cream cheese frosting and place in the refrigerator to let it firm up.

I drizzled some caramel over the top and also put some writing and decorations around the base of the cake with the extra chocolate ganache that I had.  

Have a great weekend everybody and Happy Baking!

Easy Apple Crumb Pie

My aunt kindly invited me over for dinner last Friday night and offered up her kitchen for me to make whatever my heart desired.  It was so unbelievably nice to have a healthy home-cooked meal for the first time in awhile as well.  This is my go-to easy dessert that I make for last minute dinner parties, etc and it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

The apple crumb pie is super simple and I always cheat and buy a pre-made pie crust from the store because I never seem to be able to make the dough far enough in advance.  So sorry to the puritans out there but this was some good old Marie Callendar's frozen pie crust.

It requires 5-6 decent sized apples of your choice.  My aunt Kim had some apples that she was given by a friend from their garden, so they were very organic!  The apples are coated with flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, allspice, vanilla, and lemon juice.  Then, instead of the standard crust topping I used a crumble topping, which I love. 

This pie does not take long at all to make.  Probably about 30-45 minutes to assemble and additional cooking time.  This recipe is from a blog I really enjoy called, Baked by Rachel.

I also apologize because as I was making this at my aunts I did not have my camera and had to use my iPhone so sorry if the picture quality is terrible. 

Ingredients:

For the filling: 

5-6 medium-sized apples

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 tbsp. flour

1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

For the crumble topping:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup melted butter

Directions: 

For the pie crust:

I bought a pre-made frozen pie crust that does not need to be pre-baked, but it is smart to poke the crust with a fork to avoid creating air bubbles. 

For the filling: 

Peel the apples, core them, slice into small pieces and place in a large bowl.  

Prepare the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and allspice. 

Pour the dry ingredients in with the apples slices and mix in well so that the mixture is evenly coating the slices. 

                                          

Pour the lemon juice and vanilla over the mixture and stir in well. 

For the crumble topping:

Prepare the oven to 425. 

In a medium-sized bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  

Melt the butter fully in the microwave, let it cool, and pour it over the dry ingredients.

Mix thoroughly (using hands if necessary) to reach a crumbly consistency.

Assembly:

Pour the apple slices into the pie crust and pile up high! They will shrink down so don't even worry.

Then crumble the topping on top of the apples until you are satisfied with the coverage amount. 

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, covered with foil.  After this amount of time remove the foil, reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for another 30-35 minutes.  When it is done, when you stick a toothpick into the pie, the apples should be soft. 

Enjoy! Again, this is super easy and super delicious and I hope you all try it out! The pictures do not do justice to how amazing this really is, so you will just have to take my word for it.

Happy baking! 

Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes with Caramel Filling

College Cooking Episode #1 has officially begun! I spent this past Saturday night baking these delicious cupcakes for my hall mates as they patiently waited for several hours.  I really missed getting in my "baking zone" and am so grateful that I could finally get back into things.  So be prepared: there is definitely more to come! Suggestions welcome!

So as the title indicates that these are Snickerdoodle cookie cupcakes.  For those of you who don't know what Snickerdoodle is... you have seriously been missing out!  It's basically just a sugar cookie with cinnamon added to it, but this one ingredient makes a world of difference.  

Anyways, the base of the cupcake is actually made of a snickerdoodle cookie dough, and the cake portion as well as the cream cheese frosting is cinnamon spiked.  Last, but certainly not least the cupcake is filled with a freshly made caramel sauce. Mmmmm.

I have to give a shout out to one of my favorite blogs, How Sweet It Is, for inspiring me to create this masterpiece.  Additionally I got my caramel recipe from The Messy Baker.  This was my first time ever attempting to make caramel and I was surprisingly very successful.  

This was also my first time using a hand mixer instead of a standard kitchen aid mixer which took a little getting used to but it wasn't too shabby- just very loud.

Overall, this was a messy project to do in a tiny dorm kitchen but I still had tons of fun so it was worth it in the end. 

They think so too. 

Ingredients:

This recipe will make about 15 cupcakes.

For the cookie dough base:

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter (half of a stick) 

1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

For the cake layer:

1/2 cup softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup of milk (I used 1%, but just use whatever you have around)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 heaping tsp. cinnamon 

For the cinnamon cream cheese frosting:

1/2 cup softened butter

8 oz cream cheese at room temp. (I used 1/3 less fat, but any kind works fine)

2.5 cups powdered sugar

2 tsps. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the caramel:

Side note: This is something you can easily buy at the grocery store if you want to save some time. Also, this recipe will make a pretty hefty amount of caramel (I probably used half of it for my cupcakes) but it's always nice to have some left over for sundaes, etc).

1.5 cups of sugar

1 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup tap water

As you can see this recipe has lots of different parts to it but they all come together so nicely!

Directions:

For the cookie dough base: 

Beat (with electric mixer) butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl until creamy and smooth.  Add the 1 egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. 

In a separate small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 

Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix until the dough comes together nicely.  Cover and put in the fridge while you complete the second step.

For the cake layer:

Preheat the oven to 350. 

Beat (with electric mixer) butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. 

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 

Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients... combine, add milk... combine, and add the second half of the dry ingredients until you reach a smooth and fluffy consistency. 

Assembly of the cupcakes: 

1. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. Add about 1 tablespoon of refrigerated cooke dough to the bottom of the liner and flatten as much as possible (pictured at the left)

3. Drop about 2 tbsp's worth of cake batter on top until it is about 75-80% full (pictured at the right). 

4. Bake for about 14-16 minutes at 350 and when they are done baking, allow to cool completely.

For the caramel:

This should probably be done several hours ahead of time so that it is able to cool off and thicken completely.  I made the stupid mistake of not allowing myself enough time but it still ended up working out for the most part! 

Combine sugar and water in a medium sized pot (no heat yet) and stir.  This is the only chance you will have to stir it- resist the urge to stir it while it is caramelizing, trust me!  Place over medium-high heat and it will eventually come to a boil, and then begin to caramelize (this should take about 10 minutes). Don't touch it for the duration of this time. 

Take it off the heat right as it becomes a familiar light brown/caramel color.  You have to be watchful because it can burn in a split second. 

Once you remove it from heat, immediately yet slowly, add the heavy whipping cream and whisk to combine.  The mixture will bubble violently and it may become clumpy but do not fear!

Place back on low heat for 1-2 minutes to melt the remaining clumps until you reach a smooth consistency.  It will become thicker as it cools so don't be alarmed by its thinness. 

Place in a heat safe container, cover, and let it cool down completely.

For the cinnamon cream cheese frosting:

Cream (with electric mixer) butter and cream cheese together in a medium sized bowl.  Gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla, alternating back and forth.  

Finally, add cinnamon!

Refrigerate from 10-15 minutes to let it firm up a little more before frosting the cupcakes.  I will warn you that this is one of the thinner frostings I have made but it is oh so delicious.  If you are insistent in having a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar, but I don't think it really needs it. 

Creating the masterpiece:

1. Take any standard piping bag and fill it with the cooled caramel.  Stick the tip as far you can into the cupcake and squeeze the bag while lifting up to fill the center of the cupcake.  Another way you can do it is by cutting out a portion of the cupcake and filling up the hole you created- either way works fine! 

2. Using another piping bag with any kind of decorating tip (I used a star shaped Wilton- per usual) frost your cupcakes with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting!

3.  If you want, sprinkle some cinnamon or drizzle some of the extra caramel on top!

So I finally completed my first in-college baking experience.  Please continue to keep checking in and see what's new! Hope you are all having a great school year! 

Happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Everyone loves cookie dough.  That's just a fact.  I made a slightly different version of these at the beginning of summer which I thought were alright. Then I added a filling and it made a huge difference.  My boyfriend, Jake, is somewhat obsessed with them and has been begging me to make them again... so here they are! 

I used these adorable little polka-dot cupcake liners that I got from this store called Francesca's.  It's more like a boutiquey kinda of feel clothing store but they have knick-knacks like these! 

In some of the other cookie dough cupcake recipes I saw, you can make little mini chocolate chip cookies and stick them in the top of the cupcakes (sort of like a garnish).  But, I ran out of time so I left them out and they were still awesome! 

Also one more tip is to not do it all in one sitting.  I made the cake portion of the cupcakes one night, and the next morning/afternoon I made the filling and the frosting.  It's always more fun when you aren't stressed out.  I only made 12 cupcakes but I will give you the recipe for 24 because that is the standard amount.  I made some very slight changes here and there but I need to give credit to Annie's Eats blog because it was my inspiration for this recipe!

Ingredients:

This recipe will make about 24 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes: 

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1.5 cups brown sugar (packed)

4 eggs

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt (if using salted butter, just use a small pinch)

1 cup milk 

2 tsp. vanilla

For the cookie dough filling:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed

1 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour

7 oz. sweetened condensed milk 

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips

For the cookie dough frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 1/3 cup powdered sugar

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

For garnish:

Mini chocolate chips (as many or as little as you prefer)

Directions:

For the cupcakes: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cupcakes pans (each with 12 cupcake liners).  

In a mixer with the paddle attachment combine butter and brown sugar and beat on medium speed until it is smooth (3ish minutes).  

Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides as needed to make sure it is being combined well.

In a separate medium-sized bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl, alternating with the milk, on low-medium speed.  

Mix in the vanilla, and last but definitely not least fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula.

Divide batter evenly into the cupcake liners and bake for about 18-20 minutes.  After removing them from the oven let them sit in the pans for a few minutes before taking them out to cool completely.  

For the cookie dough filling:

In a mixer with the paddle attachment combine butter and light brown sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth (1-2 minutes).  

Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla until completely mixed in.  

Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula. 

I found that my filling was already very thick when I finished and ready to be piped right away but if you think yours needs to be refrigerated first, go for it.  Just make sure you don't leave it in for too long because it will become too thick if you do. 

For the cookie dough frosting: 

In a mixer with the paddle attachment combine butter and light brown sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth (1-2 minutes).  

Mix in the powdered sugar slowly until well-combined and smooth.  

Mix in the flour and salt. 

Mix in the vanilla and milk until creamy.

Assembly:

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled off the first step is to cut out a center section of the cupcake (cone-shaped) with a paring knife.

Next, place the cookie dough filling in a ziploc bag and cut a 1/2 inch hole in the corner, which will be used to pipe the filling. 

Fill the inside of the cupcake almost all the way but make sure to leave room for the top.

Take the cone-shaped cake that you took out of the center of the cupcake and cut off the bottom because there will not be enough room for the whole thing to fit back in (save the extra cake- I will give you an idea for it at the bottom of this post).

Place the top back on the cupcake.  It does not have to be perfect because you are putting frosting over it anyways! 

Frost the cupcakes in any way that you desire (I just piped mine on with a simple wide Wilton attachment).

Add as many or as little mini chocolate chips as you wish! 

Here's a midsection view of the filled cupcake (keep in mind this one was very soft because it had been sitting out for awhile in a tubberware instead of in the fridge but still delicious).  

Extra Cake: 

As promised, I said that I would give you an idea for the extra cake bits... Cake pops! (By the way the extra cake will only make about 5 or 6 cake pops).  If you have any frosting laying around you can crumble up your extra cake, add about a tsp of frosting to it, mix it thoroughly, and roll them into little balls.  You will need to melt some candy coating in the microwave as well.  Dip the top of the cake pop sticks into the candy coating and stick halfway into the cake balls (which should be on some sort of plate).  Freeze them for about 3 minutes.  Once the candy coating has become sturdy you can dip your whole cake pop into the candy coating, making sure to completely cover it.  Decorate however you want!  I used some pearl candy sprinkles.  Here is a youtube tutorial that can walk you through it more thoroughly if you are interested: Cake Pops Tutorial.

Hope you are all having a wonderful end of summer and I hope you decide to try out these cupcakes and/or cake pops! Happy baking!